“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
Oprah Winfrey
Like all good things in life come to an end, 2008 has come to an end too. It’s been a good year in blogland, filled with loads of new friends, food & a whole lot of fun. It’s had its low moments too, where we sadly lost some good blogger friends like Bri to cancer, & Sherry who suffered a fatal heart attack. Low again because world peace got shattered often, & the same old helpless feeling crept into our lives again. High because we now know that we can make a difference, however small, & we are willing to unite to fight for a cause! Because we can say, ‘YES WE CAN’!!!
For me, it’s a moment to think back & look at all the good that has come into my life with a year of blogging. Thank you all of you for being part of my life. I’ve discovered a bunch of great new friends, most virtual yet quite a few within arms reach, I’ve discovered cuisines I never thought I’d ever encounter, I’ve really enjoyed being a Daring Baker, I’ve wept over weeping meringues on shoulders generously offered, I’ve lent my shoulder to be cried upon, I’ve shared joys & sorrows with people I’ve never met…& above all I’m glad I became a foodie blogger. I have no resolutions for the new year, but I know there are people far braver than me, who make resolutions & try & meet them too! Good for you guys!!!
I have a few thank yous lined up to end my year…The first one goes out for Donna of Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases who sent me this wonderful book because the RIG finally chose me. Thank you for this most wonderful cupcake book which I just received. It’s absolutely delightful & has the most novel ideas for cupcakes, each one cuter than the next!!! To my sis in Houston who sent me a package of baking delights, amongst other things, some pumpkin spice, a very precious roll of parchment paper (it’s unheard of here), & a set of Wilton offset spatulas. O boy … they work like magic, thank you!! Well, all these years I’ve only frosted & leveled my cakes with butter knives & regular spatulas, & life was fine. Then along comes a thing called ‘offset spatula’, & suddenly, I’m living a baking luxury! The ease & fun of frosting with this new instrument had me dancing with joy. Earlier my dear sis had sent me the microplanezester which is an indispensable part of my daily existence…& now it’s this. Thank you …
And the next ‘thank you’ is for daughter dearest who went off shopping for Christmas gifts on her own, & bought me this refreshing Ice Cream book. She went & bought gifts for each one of us with her pocket money, neatly wrapped them, hung hand-made cards on each, & couldn’t wait for morning to come! For the first time ever, there was a a gift for me under the tree!! YAY…it’s a gorgeous book, with fab ideas. Summer, here I come.
And last but not the least, my dear friend from Ukraine is here again, & as usual, comes as Santa in disguise. Dutch cheese, Stroop waffles, loads of vanilla sugar sachets, chocolates, & hand painted wooden flat spoons from Kiev!
Life is good & looking up. Thank you all of you. Here’s a cake I made with fresh fruits-kiwis & oranges, fresh whipped cream & almonds, to inaugurate the offset spatula. The kids really love this cake, so do we. I’ve posted the recipe before, but am re posting it because I made a few small changes.FRESH FRUIT CREAM CAKE…with kiwis, oranges & almonds
My own recipe
Ingredients for sponge:
Eggs – 5 (250gms) Flour – 125 gms (half the weight of the eggs) Baking powder – 1tsp Salt – 1 pinch Powdered sugar – 100gms ( less than half the weight of the eggs) Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp Zest of 1 orange
Orange extract – 1tsp
Filling/Topping Cream – 400ml (whipping/35% fat) Icing Sugar – 3-4 Tbsp Almond Essence – 1 tsp Kiwi-fruit – 2-3/depending on size Marmalade – 4 tbsp/heated well with 3 tbsp of water Almonds – 2 tbsp/ground with skin White and dark chocolate for drizzling
Method: For the sponge Preheat oven to 190deg C , reduce to 180deg C after 10 mins of putting the cake in. Grease and line a 9″ring tin; A springform cake tin is always better. Sift the flour + baking powder + salt 3 times. Beat the eggs and sugar well with beater till very thick ribbon falls and holds in place for at least 5 seconds (beat for approx 10mins) Add vanilla essence + orange extract & beat for 1 min. Gently fold in the sifted flour; mix lightly so that air doesn’t escape. Turn gently into tin and bake for 30-35mins till done. Once done, remove from tin after 5 mins and leave on rack to cool completely. Cut horizontally into 3-4 layers. Filling: Peel and chop 2 kiwi-fruit into tiny pieces,and slice 1 for the top. Whip 400ml whipping cream with 4tbs pwdrd sugar +1 tsp almond essence until thick and holds peaks. Reserve 1/2 for frosting the top. Place the bottom most layer of the sponge on your serving platter, spread half the marmalade across it. Spread it fast, or else it’ll seep into just one area. Add a dollop of cream, top with fienly chopped kiwi fruit & sprinkled with ground almonds. Repeat & use the remaining cream, chooped fruit & almonds.
Topping:
Microwave the dark chocolate in 2a zip bag for 1-2 mins to melt it. Spread the remaining almond cream over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle with flaked almonds on the edges. At this point, I sometimes cut the cake into 12 equal portions, to make serving simpler. Now place a slice of kiwi fruit at equal intervals, drizzle with dark chocolate, sprinkle with ground almonds if you like, and chill well before serving.
Thanks to all you wonderful folk out there…hope 2009 makes all your dreams come true!
